In February, we reported on a Vancouver-based financial technology startup securing a million-dollar pre-seed round to reimagine how companies access and manage loans.
Co-founded by Kaylan Pepin and Roman Hartmann, Levr.ai uses accounting and banking APIs to automate and accelerate the process of finding and applying for a loan as well as managing existing loans.
“Over my career, I‘ve seen many qualified businesses struggle to get financing,” shared Pepin, who serves as chief executive. “Even worse than the complex loan application process is the lack of software tools available to manage active business loans.”
Levr.ai was built to solve these problems. And it’s ready to scale.
The company this week revealed that its early round of capital, co-led Sprout.vc and MAVAN Capital Partners, has recently been bolstered. The B2B intelligent loans platform announced that it has accepted an additional $200,000 from two new investors—BC’s Western Universities Technology Innovation Fund (which last year invested in Victoria’s Frontly) and Japan-based Colopl Next.
Considering this additional capital still a part of the company’s pre-seed round, Levr.ai intends to pursue a formal seed round from global investors as the firm focuses on growth.
In September, the firm expanded its operational footprint south of the border. The expansion came as a result of Levr.ai “continually exploring new opportunities to extend its reach to provide more and better financial solutions to small and medium businesses,” according to the startup’s head of partnerships, Shane Stoneman.
Already, more than 1,000 small businesses use Levr.ai to understand lending options—a recently celebrated milestone for the company. These businesses can consider options from three dozen strategic lender partners on the platform, the fintech says.
The continued growth of the company—user signup volume this year has grown as much as 30% month-over-month, Levr.ai says—is a “testament to the dedication and talent of our team,” according to Pepin.
“We are committed to leveraging technology to create a brighter future for small businesses,” the CEO stated, “and our team’s expertise is instrumental in achieving this goal.”
Expertise is critical because Levr.ai’s flagship product, Intelligent Loans Marketplace, is built on cutting-edge machine learning algorithms, according to Pepin.
And scale is important because there are well over 30 million business across North America, with roughly one-third of them applying for a loan every year. The continent currently sees 25 million businesses with existing debt, even though capital is difficult to come by: The National Small Business Association reports that nearly one-third of small businesses consider access to capital the most significant challenge they face.
Knowing all of this, a single simple platform powered by high tech is overdue in the marketplace, believes Jennifer Daly, the startup’s head of marketing.
“Levr.ai is democratizing—or more simply ‘lowering the barrier of entry to’—capital for businesses on its platform,” she suggests. “The Levr.ai platform collectively enables the buying power accessible to bigger enterprises.”
Pepin agrees, promising “a brighter future for entrepreneurs and small enterprises” through advances in tech and innovation.
“We are excited about the journey ahead,” the CEO stated, “and the opportunity to work alongside small businesses as they pursue their dreams.”
Levr.ai is targeting $3 million for its forthcoming seed round.
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